This Date in Rock Music History: July 13

1958:  Buddy Holly nearly drowned trying to swim across a lake in the North Woods, near Rhinelander, Wisconsin while on tour.
1962:  Bob Dylan signed a contract with publisher Witmark.
1963:  Elvis Presley had one of the hottest songs, "(You're The) Devil In Disguise", moving up from 49- to 16.
1963:  Rolf Harris scored a #1 on the Easy Listening chart with "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport".  












1963:  The Surfaris rode into the Top 10 with "Wipe Out".
1964:  The Supremes recorded "Come See About Me"
















1964:  The Beatles released the single "A Hard Day's Night".
1964:  The Animals reached #1 in the U.K. with "The House Of The Rising Sun".
1965:  John Lennon and Paul McCartney were presented with five Ivor Novello awards.
1967:  The Who opened for Herman's Hermits at the Stampede Corral in Calgary, Alberta.
1968:  Hugh Masekela's instrumental "Grazing In The Grass" was the top R&B song.








1968:  The Doors had one of the fastest-rising songs of the decade as "Hello, I Love You" climbed from #77 to #22 on this date.








  
       
                                  Puckett & the Union Gap had a Top 5 hit...


1968:  Herb Alpert remained at #1 for the fourth week in a row with "This Guy's In Love With You".  Cliff Nobles & Company's great instrumental "The Horse" was at #2 while the Rolling Stones were stopped at three with "Jumpin' Jack Flash".  Gary Puckett (from Twin Falls, Idaho) & the Union Gap moved up to #4 with "Lady Willpower" while Hugh Masekela's instrumental "Grazing In The Grass" was song #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 with "The Look Of Love", Merrilee Rush had #7--"Angel Of The Morning", the 5th Dimension shot up from 17-8 with "Stoned Soul Picnic", Shorty Long's "Here Comes The Judge" was #9 and the Cowsills had the #10 song--"Indian Lake".  
1969:  Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, the Jeff Beck Group and Vanilla Fudge played at the Singer Bowl Music Festival in New York's Flushing Meadows.  One of the highlights was when lead guitarist Jimmy Page, lead singer Robert Plant, and drummer John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Glenn Cornick of Jethro Tull, Alvin Lee of Ten Years After, and Rod Stewart and Ron Wood of Faces jammed with the Jeff Beck Group, playing "Jailhouse Rock". 
1971:  David Cassidy had an operation to have his gall bladder removed at age 21.
1973:  Bob Dylan released the Soundtrack to "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid".  (Note:  many websites report the album was released July 16.  The books 'The Gospel According to Bob Dylan:  The Old, Old Story of Modern Times' by Michael J. Gilmour and 'Dylan:  Disc by Disc' by Jon Bream state that the album was released July 13.)





1973:  Queen released their self-titled debut album on EMI Records.
1973:  Smokey Robinson and the Miracles were guest hosts of The Midnight Special, welcoming the Stylistics and Rare Earth.












1974:  Dionne Warwick & the Spinners released their collaboration "Then Came You".
1974:  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played at the Bottom Line in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, New York.
1974:  Caribou by Elton John was the #1 album in the U.K.
1974:  "Annie's Song" by John Denver was #1 on the Adult chart for a second week.









                                         "Grimsby" from Caribou...


1974:  Caribou by Elton John took over as the #1 album after debuting at #5 in its first week.  Another hot album was Back Home Again by John Denver, which moved from 17-2.  Gordon Lightfoot was third with Sundown followed by Paul McCartney & Wings with Band on the Run.  The Soundtrack to "The Sting" by Marvin Hamlisch was #5.  The Rest of the Top 10:  John Denver's Greatest Hits at #6 in its 32nd week of release, Diamond Dogs from David Bowie, Journey to the Centre of the Earth by former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman at #8, Cat Stevens with Buddha and the Chocolate Box and Loggins & Messina On Stage at #10.







1974:  George McCrae moved into the #1 slot with "Rock Your Baby" while John Denver was making a move (8-2) with "Annie's Song".  The former #1 from the Hues Corporation, "Rock The Boat" moved down to 3.  Gordon Lightfoot was at #4 with "Sundown".  The rest of the Top 10:  "On And On" from Gladys Knight & the Pips, Elton John moved from 25-6 with "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods were at 7 with "Billy, Don't Be A Hero", Anne Murray edged up with "You Won't See Me", the Hollies scored their 20th hit with "The Air That I Breathe" and the Righteous Brothers reminded us of the great stars in "Rock and Roll Heaven" at #10.  
1974:  George McCrae returned for a second week atop the R&B chart with "Rock Your Baby".
1981:  Always feeling he was above talking to the press, Bob Dylan suddenly met with the media and answered questions for two hours after seeing the transcript of an interview with an man who posed as Dylan in a Danish newspaper.





1981:  Pat Benatar released the single "Fire And Ice".
















1981:  Journey released "Who's Crying Now".
1985:  Elton John re-signed with MCA Records, a five-album deal worth $8 million.  At the time, the contract was the biggest in history.










1985:  Live Aid concerts were featured at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Wembley Stadium in London.  George Michael sang lead vocals on Elton John's performance of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me".
1985:  Survivor owned the top Adult Contemporary song for the fourth straight week with "The Search Is Over".
1986:  Stevie Nicks and Peter Frampton performed at the San Diego Sports Arena in California.
1988:  Sting gave a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to benefit the rainforests.
1990:  Curtis Mayfield was seriously injured when a strong gust of wind blew a lighting scaffold down that hit Curtis in the back of the neck during an outdoor concert at Wingate Field in Brooklyn, New York.  Mayfield suffered a critical spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed below the neck.
1991:  INXS, Jesus Jones and Deborah Harry performed at Wembley Arena in London.
1991:  Bryan Adams had the #1 song in the U.K. with "Everything I Do) I Do It For You".
1991:  Bonnie Raitt debuted at #9 on the Album chart with Luck of the Draw.
1993:  Janet Jackson released the single "If".
1995:  Geddy Lee of Rush sang "Oh Canada" before the Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland.
1996:  Over 2,000 guitarists, including Chet Atkins and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, set a new world record for the largest jam session when they played "Heartbreak Hotel" for 75 minutes at Riverfront Park in Nashville, Tennessee.  The previous mark was set when Randy Bachman led 1,322 guitarists in a 68-minute performance in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on May 7, 1994.
1996:  The Eagles performed in Wembley Stadium in London.









1996:  Metallica had the top album with Load, holding off Jagged Little Pill from Alanis Morissette, which was making yet another bid for #1 after 55 weeks  The Fugees owned #3--The Score while Toni Braxton fell to 4 with Secrets and Keith Sweat debuted at 5 with his self-titled debut.  The rest of the Top 10:  Tracy Chapman's New Beginning, E. 1999 Eternal from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Celine Dion at 8 with Falling Into You, the Soundtrack to "The Nutty Professor" at #9 and No Doubt slipped into the Top 10 with Tragic Kingdom..  
1997:  The Prodigy topped the U.K. album chart with The Fat of the Land.
1999:  Paul McCartney displayed 73 of his paintings at the Kunstforum Lÿz gallery in Siegen, Germany.







2000:  The Corrs had the #1 song in the U.K. with "Breathless".
2001:  The Eagles were in concert at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland.
2002:  Green Day and No Doubt headlined the opening of the two-day T in the Park Festival in Kinross, Scotland.
2003:  Prince released his new album N.E.W.S. as a digital download.
2003:  Ashanti had the #1 album with Chapter II.










 
2004:  Jimmy Buffett released the album License to Chill.
2004:  In today's "Inmates Run Rap Music" segment, Joe Budden was arrested in Queens, New York for driving with a suspended license.
2004:  Hal Carter, manager, agent and producer who worked with the Kinks, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, died of liver cancer in London at the age of 69.
2005:  R. Kelly had the #1 album with TP.3 Reloaded.
2008:  Les Crane, who gave us "Desiderata", died at the age of 74 in Greenbrae, California.



Born This Day:
1935:  Pete Escovedo, percussionist of Santana, was born in Pittsburg, California.

1942:  Roger McGuinn, singer and guitarist with the Byrds and later McGuinn, Clark & Hillman, was born in Chicago, Illinois.
1942:  Stephen Bladd, drummer for the J. Geils Band, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
1945:  Diane Renay, who reached #6 with "Navy Blue" in 1964, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1946:  Cheech Marin of Cheech & Chong ("Basketball Jones" and "Santa Claus And His Old Lady") was born in Los Angeles.
1955:  Mark Mendoza, bass guitarist of Twisted Sister, was born in West Hempstead, New York.  (Note:  some websites report Mendoza was born in Long Island, New York.  Long Island is not a city and will not be shown on an official birth certificate.  Mendoza was born in West Hempstead.)
1966:  Gerald Levert, son of Eddie Levert of the Four Tops and a solo performer, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; died after a lethal combination of prescription and over-the-counter drugs in Cleveland, Ohio on November 10, 2006.  (Note:  'Allmusic.com' claims Levert was born in Cleveland.  He was born in Philadelphia, and was raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, according to the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times' and other credible sources.)
1974:  Deborah Cox ("Nobody's Supposed To Be Here") was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Featured Unknown/Underrated Song--the Who's "Pinball Wizard

Since the Who only had one career Top 10 song, it gives us one very simple truth--either they weren't as good as people thought, or they had several "underrated songs".  This one definitely should have been a Top 10:

 

 

"Pinball Wizard"

Who

 

Written by Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, and John Entwhistle

 

See me, feel me, touch me, heal me
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me

 

Listening to you, I get the music
Gazing at you, I get the heat
Following you, I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet

 

Right behind you, I see the millions
On you, I see the glory
From you, I get opinions
From you, I get the story

 

Listening to you, I get the music
Gazing at you, I get the heat
Following you, I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet

 

Right behind you, I see the millions
On you, I see the glory
From you, I get opinions
From you, I get the story

 

Listening to you, I get the music
Gazing at you, I get the heat
Following you, I climb the mountain
I get excitement at your feet

 

Right behind you, I see the millions
On you

Classic Summer Songs: Tom Cochrane's "Life Is A Highway"

Tom Cochrane was previously with the group Red Rider (If you haven't checked out "White Hot" in our Top Unknown/Underrated Songs*, you can find it there...).  Cochrane delivered this massive solo hit in the Summer of 1992:

The Top 200 Songs of the 60's*: #90-81

We are well into one of our greatest music specials, not because of anything we're doing--we bow to the music!

#90:

"Monday, Monday"
Mamas & Papas
1966

The Mamas & Papas had recorded "California Dreamin'" and were awaiting its release.  In the meantime, Denny Doherty encouraged John Phillips to come up with another song.  The next morning, Phillips came back with a classic that everyone who works can identify with.

 

Cass Elliott and Michelle Phillips sang vocals, along with John and Doherty.  The group hired top session musicians Hal Blaine on drums, Larry Knechtel playing keyboards, Joe Osborn on bass, and guitarist P.F. Sloan.  "Monday, Monday" was produced by Lou Adler on Dunhill Records, a subsidiary of ABC. 

 

"Monday, Monday" was three weeks at #1, the second consecutive #1 song with a false ending, as it took over from "Good Lovin'".  It faced competition (one of the more valuable factors in judging popularity of a song) from "(You're My) Soul And Inspiration", "When A Man Loves A Woman", "Nowhere Man", "I Am A Rock", and the group's own "California Dreamin'".  The Mamas & Papas  won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Monday, "Monday". 

 

#89:

"Jumping Jack Flash"

Rolling Stones
1968

 

According to Stones guitarist Keith Richards, "Jack Flash" was Jack Dyer, his gardener.  Mick Jagger and Richards and been up all night at Richards' house.  It was raining, and they heard the sound of boots near the window, which woke Mick up.  He said, "What's that?, to which Richards replied, "Oh, that's Jack.  That's jumping Jack."

 

Richards began working the phrase into a sound on the guitar, and one of The Top Guitar Riffs of the Rock Era* grew from there.  However, the songwriting credit the group gave to Jagger and Richards had bassist Bill Wyman a little upset.  Wyman (playing the piano), guitarist Brian Jones, and drummer Charlie Watts were working on the song in rehearsal, adding a riff to it, when Jagger and Richards walked in.  The group recorded it the next day, yet the other members never received credit for the song.

 

Wyman played the organ on the recording, while Jagger added lead vocals and maracas, Richards played acoustic and bass guitars, Ian Stewart played piano, and Jimmy Miller sang backing vocals.  The Stones recorded this one at Olympic Studios in London, produced by Jimmy Miller.

 

"Jumping Jack Flash" hit a snag at #3 for three weeks, kept there by "This Guy's In Love With You", "Honey", "Mrs. Robinson", "The Horse", "People Got To Be Free", "Hello, I Love You" and Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild.

The Stones have performed this song more than any other in their repertoire, playing it on every tour since 1968.

#88:

"My Boyfriend's Back"

Angels

1963

Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer wrote this song after Feldman observed an incident involving a girl and a boy who wore a leather jacket.  The girl yelled at him for telling lies about her at school and said the two phrases that would become key to the song--"My boyfriend's back and you're gonna' be in trouble, and "you're gonna' be sorry you were ever born."  Feldman told his songwriting partners about the incident that night, and they came up with one of the classic songs of the Rock Era. 

The Angels were on-demand session vocalists as well, with their most famous such appearance being on Lou Christie's "Lightnin' Strikes".

Peggy Santiglia sang lead for the group, which included Barbara and Phyllis Allbut.  The Angels utilized the services of drummers Gary Chester and Herbie Lovelle, guitarists Billy Butler, Bobby Comstock and Al Gorgoni, and Bob Bushnell, who overdubbed on an electric and upright bass.  Gottehrer produced the song on Smash Records. 

"My Boyfriend's Back" went to #1 for three weeks, with competition coming from "Sugar Shack", "Blowin' In The Wind", "Be My Baby", "Wipe Out", and "Blue Velvet".

 

#87:

"One"

Three Dog Night
1969

The classic at #89 is one of many from Three Dog Night, who covered the song written by Harry Nilsson.  Nilsson wrote the song after calling someone and getting a busy signal.  He stayed on the line listening to the "beep, beep, beep, beep" tone, and the busy signal became the opening notes of the song.

 

Chuck Negron does an amazing job on lead vocal.  Danny Hutton and Cory Wells sing backing vocals, with Mike Allsup on guitar, Floyd Sneed on the drums, bassist Joe Schermie, and Jimmy Greenspoon on organ.    Gabriel Mekler produced the song for Dunhill Records.

 

"One" is highly underrated as a #5 song, and anyone, be them music directors at radio stations or music fans, that doesn't look at the competition that kept the song from being #1 is missing the boat.  Consider first that it didn't just hit #5 and then drop out of the picture--it was #5 for three weeks.  Then consider that "One" contended with classics like "Aquarius", "The Boxer", "Get Back" and "Honky Tonk Women", "In The Year 2525" and "Bad Moon Rising" and also faced competition such as "Sweet Caroline", "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town" and "You've Made Me So Very Happy", "Spinning Wheel" and "My Cherie Amour".

 

#86:

"My Guy"

Mary Wells
1964

 

Studio stories are the best.  For "My Guy", the musicians were having a tough time getting through the intro.  They had played all day and there was only 30 minutes of studio time left in the session.  Trombonist George Bohannon told bandleader Earl Van Dyke that the opening measure of "Canadian Sunset" would fit perfect into the intro of "My Guy".  Van Dyke quickly came up with an intro combining the opening of "Canadian Sunset" with the "left hand notes" from "Begin The Beguine", another of Eddie Heywood's songs. 

Said Van Dyke:  "We were doing anything to get out of that studio.  We knew that the producers didn't know anything 'bout 'Canadian Sunset' or 'Begin The Beguine'."

 

As for Mary Wells, "My Guy" was her last solo recording for Motown, as she left the label the following year.  She was joking around when she delivered the Mae West-like singing style at the end of the song, but everyone encouraged her to continue, and it became part of the recording.

 

Smokey Robinson wrote "My Guy" for Wells, just as he had "The One Who Really Loves you", "You Beat Me To The Punch" and "Two Lovers" for her.  The Andantes (Marlene Barrow, Louvain Demps, and Jackie Hicks) sang backing vocals.  Van Dyke played the organ, with Johnny Griffith on piano, Robert White and Eddie Willis on guitar, James Jamerson playing bass, Benny Benjamin on drums, Dave Hamilton on vibes, Russ Conway and Herbert Williams played trumpet, and Paul Riser joined Bohannon on trombone.  Robinson produced the song as well.

 

"My Guy" was the song that broke up the monopoly that the Beatles had in 1964 on the Top Five, and it eventually rose to #1 for two weeks.  Remember the New York Yankees and their "murderer's row" of hitters?  Wells had to face the Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist And Shout", "She Loves You", "Love Me Do", and "Please Please Me", as well as "People", "I Get Around", "Hello, Dolly!", and "Chapel Of Love".
 

 

 

 

#85:

"I Got You Babe"

Sonny & Cher
1965

Sonny Bono wrote the lyrics to "I Got You Babe" on a piece of cardboard.  Cher didn't like it at first, but changed her mind after Sonny changed the key to fit her voice.  Ahmet Ertegun, then the boss at Atco Records, didn't like the song, and ordered it on the "B" side of the duo's single.  But when Bono gave a copy to legendary rock & roll radio station KHJ in Los Angeles, they played "I Got You Babe" instead of the "A" side ("It's Gonna' Rain"), which launched the song nationwide.

Famous session musician Hal Blaine plays drums on "I Got You Babe".  Bono produced the song as well. 

 

Sonny & Cher reached #1 for three weeks with one of the biggest hits of 1965.  It performed admirably against songs such as "Satisfaction", "Mr. Tambourine Man", "I Can't Help Myself", "Like A Rolling Stone", "Wooly Bully", "California Girls", "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers, "Help!", and "Eve Of Destruction".

"I Got You Babe" of course is the song that Bill Murray's character in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day hears every morning at 6:00 AM when the alarm clock goes off.

#84:

"Summer In The City"

Lovin' Spoonful
1966

Lead singer John Sebastian, bassist Steve Boone, and Sebastian's brother Mark (not a member of the group) combined to write this smash. 

 

Joe Butler played drums for Lovin' Spoonful and Zal Yanovsky played guitar.  Erik Jacobsen produced the song for release on Kama Sutra Records.

 

"Summer In The City" went Gold and became the Spoonful's biggest hit, a #1 smash for three weeks.  It earned its position against songs like "I Am A Rock", "Cherish" by the Association, "Paperback Writer", "Sunny", "You Can't Hurry Love", and "Yellow Submarine".

#83:

"Wedding Bell Blues"

5th Dimension
1969

Here's the first of two smashes that this great group places in The Top 200*.  It was written and first recorded by accomplished songwriter Laura Nyro.

 

Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, Lamonte McLemore, and Ron Townson were the members of the 5th Dimension.  Bones Howe produced the song for release by Soul City Records.

 

"Wedding Bell Blues" reached #1 for three weeks against songs like "Sugar, Sugar", "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", "Something", "Honky Tonk Women", "Suspicious Minds", "Come Together", "Someday We'll Be Together", "Sweet Caroline", "Everybody's Talkin'", and "Get Together".  All those songs were out at the same time.

 

 

#82:

"I Get Around"

Beach Boys
1964

Here we have the innovative creativity of Brian Wilson, who wrote this song with help from Mike Love.  It opens with a fuzz guitar before fuzz guitars were cool.  Three years later, fuzz and reverb would become a big thing in rock for Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards.

 

Hal Blaine played timbales, while Ray Pohlman was on bass, Steve Douglas played the tenor saxophone, and Jay Migliori played baritone sax.  Love and Wilson sang lead, harmony and backing vocals, while Carl and Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine combined for harmony and backing vocals.  Jardine also played bass, Brian played keyboards and Baldwin harpsichord, Carl Wilson was on lead guitar, and brother Dennis played drums.  The Beach Boys recorded "I Get Around" at Western Studios in Hollywood, California in April of '64.  Brian Wilson produced the song for Capitol Records.

 

In 1969, Murry Wilson, father of the Wilsons and manager of the group, did a bad thing.  He went and sold the copyrights to the Beach Boys' songs to Irving Almo for approximately $700,000.  He did this apparently without the approval of the group, for in 1992, Brian Wilson won a lawsuit to recover many of the copyrights to his songs.

The Beach Boys navigated competition that included "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist And Shout", "My Guy", "Love Me Do", "A Hard Day's Night", and "Where Did Our Love Go" to score two weeks at #1.

 

#81:

"Where Did Our Love Go"
Supremes
1964

The legendary team of Holland-Dozier-Holland wrote this for the Supremes, but in a lower key than lead singer Diana Ross was used to.  Some websites report that it was originally written for the Marvelettes by Holland-Dozier-Holland, but refused.

 

According to the story, Dozier says that in those days, if Motown songwriters didn't have a song recorded, they would have to pay for it.  So Lamont went through the Motown roster and at the bottom were the Supremes, who hadn't had a big hit yet.  Even the Supremes, with no hits, didn't like it, but, realizing they needed something, recorded it anyway.  Dozier says he had worked out intricate background vocals, but the girls refused to learn them.  Finally, he said, "Just sing 'Baby, baby, baby'". 

 

The song no one wanted just happened to launch the career of The #6 Female Artist of the Rock Era*, and became the first of a record-setting five consecutive #1 songs for the Supremes.  Because of this song, they literally grew into stars overnight.

 

The floors at the Hitsville U.S.A. studios were made of mahogany, which enhanced the sounds of echos, footstomps and fingersnaps, with a high ceiling helping the acoustics.  Two or three microphones were used to pick up the footstomps on "Where Did Our Love Go", including mics in the rear of the echo chamber.  Brian Holland and Dozier produced the song.

 

The song not only spent two weeks at #1, but three weeks at #2.  It fought through "I Get Around", "Chapel Of Love", "A Hard Day's Night", "Oh, Pretty Woman", "The House Of The Rising Sun", "And I Love Her", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "Dancing In The Street" to get to the top.  Wonder how many songs of today would even make the Top 10 against that lineup.


That was quite a group of ten great songs.  Be sure to check out Inside The Rock Era tomorrow as we count down numbers 80-71!

This Date in Rock Music History: July 12

1954:  Here's a case where someone did indeed "quit their day job" and it worked out fine.  Elvis Presley quit his job as a truck driver and signed a recording contract with Sun Records.
1957:  DJ Alan Freed began a 13-week Big Beat show on ABC television with the Everly Brothers, Connie Francis & Frankie Lymon.
1960:  Floyd Cramer recorded "Last Date".
1961:  Pat Boone began a 10-day tour of South Africa at the Ice Dome in Durban.
1962:  The Rolling Stones made their live debut at the Marquee Club in London.















1963:  The Crystals released their hit "Then He Kissed Me".
1964:  The Beatles performed at the Hippodrome Theatre in Brighton, England.
1965:  The Beach Boys recorded "Sloop John B" at Western Recorders in Hollywood, California.










1965:  The Beach Boys released the single "California Girls".
















1965:  The Righteous Brothers released "Unchained Melody" as a single.  (Note:  some websites naively say the song was released July 17.  "Unchained Melody" debuted on the charts on July 17.  It is physically impossible for a song to be mailed to radio stations, listened to by radio stations and added to playlists, reported to the trade papers, and printed and published by the trade papers, all in one day.  The single was released July 12.)









1965:  Monday fell on this date and the new single from the McCoys was released called "Hang On Sloopy".







1965:  The Turtles released their 45 "It Ain't Me Babe".
1968:  The Bee Gees recorded "I've Got To Get A Message To You".
1968:  Micky Dolenz of the Monkees married Samantha Juste.
1969:  Elvis Presley appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.










1969:  Blind Faith performed before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City in the first date of their North American tour.  (Note:  some websites claim that the group made their live debut at Madison Square Garden on August 12.  There are two problems with that:  1) their North American debut was July 12 at Madison Square Garden, and 2) the group performed for the first time at Hyde Park in London on June 7, according to the book '1969:  The Year Everything Changed' by Rob Kirkpatrick.)   1969:  We wish African-Americans could put out music like this now--we're starving!!!  On this date, Marvin Gaye was at #1 on the R&B chart for the sixth consecutive week with "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby".
1969:  Henry Mancini remained at #1 for the eighth straight week on the Easy Listening chart with the beautiful "Love Theme From 'Romeo & Juliet'".







         
                           Blood, Sweat & Tears in the runner-up position...


1969:  Previously unknown Zager & Evans fought through the crowd and after four weeks, had the #1 song with "In The Year 2525", which made one of  the biggest leaps to the top (8-1) in the Rock Era.  Blood, Sweat & Tears was solid at 2 with "Spinning Wheel" while Oliver moved up with "Good Morning Starshine" and the former #1 "Love Theme From 'Romeo & Juliet'" by Henry Mancini was #4.  Three Dog Night's classic "One" was #5 while Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crystal Blue Persuasion edged up to 6.

Henley (2nd from left), Leadon (3rd from left), Ronstadt, Frey, Meisner (4th from right)

 

1971:  Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner performed together for the first time, as Linda Ronstadt's musicians, for a concert in Disneyland, California.  After the show, the four formed a new group, the Eagles.  (Note:  some websites claim the concert was on June 12, and some say July 15, but the correct date is July 12, according to the book 'Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young' by Barney Hoskyns.)











1972:  Michael Jackson released the single "Ben".
1973:  Hues Corporation recorded "Rock The Boat".  It wouldn't become a hit until a year later.
1975:  Johnny Nash had the #1 U.K. Song with "Tears On My Pillow".










1975:  One of the biggest groups of the mid-70's first charted on this date.  K.C. and the Sunshine Band first debuted on the chart with their first single, "Get Down Tonight".
1975:  Elton John's song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" rose from 51 to 25 on this date.













1975:  Olivia Newton-John had control of the Adult Contemporary chart with "Please Mr. Please".
1975:  "The Hustle" by Van McCoy reached #1 on the R&B chart.













1976:  Orleans had a great single released on this date--"Still The One".
1979:  Ian Pace, drummer of Deep Purple, joined fellow Purple alums Jon Lord and David Coverdale in Whitesnake.










1979:  Minnie Riperton, who gave us the #1 "Lovin' You" in 1975, died four years later from breast cancer in Los Angeles.  She was 31 years old.
1980:  U2 was in concert at the Moonlight Club in West Hampstead, London.
1980:  Olivia Newton-John and ELO paced the U.K. chart with "Xanadu".










1980:  Pure Prairie League led the AC chart for the third week with "Let Me Love You Tonight".














1980:  Glass Houses was the top album for the fifth week, beating out Just One Night by Eric Clapton.  McCartney II was actually #3, the Soundtrack to "The Empire Strikes Back" came in fourth while Pete Townshend's solo effort Empty Glass was #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Jermaine Jackson with Let's Get Serious, the Commodores at 7 with Heroes, the former #1 blockbuster Against the Wind by Bob Seger, the Soundtrack to "Urban Cowboy" which starred John Travolta and Debra Winger, and Lipps, Inc. had #10 covered with Mouth To Mouth.








1983:  Chris Wood, founding member and saxophone player for Traffic, died of pneumonia at the age of 39 in Birmingham, England.
1986:  The Moody Blues had scored a big comeback as "Your Wildest Dreams" was #1 again on the Adult Contemporary chart.











                      Kenny Loggins had a big hit from "Top Gun"...


1986:  Simply Red reached #1 with "Holding Back The Years" in its 15th week of release.  Genesis was up strong from 6 to 2 with "Invisible Touch" while the previous #1 from Billy Ocean--"There'll Be Sad Songs" fell to 3.  Janet Jackson's "Nasty" was song #4 and El DeBarge had a solo hit away from family with "Who's Johnny".  The rest of the Top 10:  Peter Gabriel with "Sledgehammer", Kenny Loggins with "Danger Zone", Howard Jones on his way down with "No One Is To Blame", the Moody Blues at 9 with "Your Wildest Dreams" and the Fabulous Thunderbirds entered the Top 10 with "Tuff Enuff".
1988:  Michael Jackson arrived in England for the first solo performances of his career.

1992:  The city of Dallas, Texas unveiled a memorial to Buddy Holly, who was from Lubbock.
1992:  Axl Rose was arrested at JFK International Airport in New York City on a St. Louis, Missouri warrant.  Rose was wanted on charges resulting from a disastrous 1991 Guns N' Roses concert in which Rose incited a riot.
1993:  Prince performed a concert at his Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota to benefit a community radio station.
1996:  Jonathan Melvoin of the Smashing Pumpkins was found dead from drugs at the age of 34 in a New York City hotel.
1997:  Anthony Kiedis, lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, broke his wrist in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles.  If I were driving in Los Angeles, I would want all the protection I could get, which certainly isn't on a motorcycle.






1997:  Shawn Colvin debuted at #8 with "Sunny Came Home".
1997:  The incredible album Pieces of You by Jewel re-entered the Top 10 after 72 weeks of release.
1998:  The Spice Girls backed out of a promise to perform a free concert at Toronto's City Hall, choosing instead to appear on the Canadian television show Much Music.
1999:  In today's segment of "Inmates Run Rap Music", DMX was arrested in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad in the middle of a concert for using obscene language.  Good to see some countries have held to their principles.
1999:  Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit wasn't a rapper, but had the same values system.  He was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota for kicking a local security guard in the head during a Limp Bizkit performance.
2003:  Rob Halford of Judas Priest announced he had rejoined the group for their first album and tour in 13 years.
2003:  R.E.M., the Cardigans and the Proclaimers performed on the opening day of the two-day T in the Park Festival in Kincross, Scotland.










2007:  Rod Stewart received the Commander of the Order of the British Empire medal from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace.
2008:  Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones left his wife of 23 years and took up with an 18-year-old Russian cocktail waitress.
2008:  Earl Nelson, who sang in the duo Bob and Earl and also sang backing vocals on Jackson 5 remake of "Rockin' Robin", died in Los Angeles.  Earl, who had suffered from Alzheimer's disease, was 79.  (Note:  some websites claim he died in Lake Charles, Louisiana, but according to the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times', he died at this home in Los Angeles.)
2008:  George Martin, producer of the Beatles, was honored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences as the most successful producer of all-time.
2010:  The state of California declared it "Pat Boone Day".
2010:  Gerry Marsden of Gerry & the Pacemakers received an honorary fellowship from Liverpool's John Moores University.
2011:  David Carr of the Fortunes died of a heart attack at the age of 67.


Born This Day:
1928:  Barbara Cowsill of the Cowsills ("Hair"), was born in Cranston, Rhode Island; died January 31, 1985 of emphysema in Tempe, Arizona.

1943:  Christine McVie (real name Christine Perfect) was born in Bouth, Cumbria, England.  (Note:  some websites claim she was born in Grenodd, Lancashire, England, and others say Birmingham, England.  According to 'Billboard', Christine was born in Bouth.)
1947:  Wilko Johnson, guitarist of Dr. Feelgood, was born in Canvey Island, Essex, England.

1948:  Walter Egan ("Magnet And Steel" and "Hot Summer Nights") was born in Jamaica, New York.
1950:  Eric Carr, drummer for KISS, was born in Brooklyn, New York; died November 24, 1991 of heart cancer in New York City.
1952:  Phil Kramer, bass guitarist for Iron Butterfly, was born in Youngstown, Ohio; his date of death was placed at February 12, 1995 after photographers found his body at the bottom of Decker Canyon near Malibu, California four years after he was reported missing (his death was ruled a probable suicide).
1952:  Liz Mitchell, singer of Boney M ("Rivers Of Babylon") was born in Clarendon, Jamaica.
1960  Ray Gillen, vocalist of Black Sabbath, was born in New York City; died December 1, 1993 in New York City of an AIDS-related disease.  (Note:  'AllMusic.com' got it wrong again, saying he was born in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.  Gillen was born in New York City and raised in Cliffside Park.)
1962:  Dan Murphy, guitarist of Soul Asylum, was born in Duluth, Minnesota.
1963:  Alan Duval of UB40
1976:  Tracie Spencer ("This House" from 1990) was born in Waterloo, Iowa.
1977:  Dominic Howard, drummer of Muse, was born in Stockport, Manchester, England.